Microscopes, in particular scanning microscopes, use specimens for training purposes that are not usable for further examinations due to radiation stress (e.g., bleaching, thermal damage, etc.). Optimum setting (parameter setting) of a scanning microscope is often time-consuming for an unpracticed user. A specimen can rapidly be destroyed or become unusable if the wrong parameters are selected. Since the production of specimens for microscopic examination requires a large expenditure of both time and money, the disadvantage of existing systems is that specimens are also used up in user training, without thereby obtaining experimental results or data. The parameters include e.g., the intensity of the individual laser lines irradiated onto the specimen, and also the regions of an acquired spectrum to be employed for analysis and image generation. In addition, in cases where an acousto-optical beam splitter (AOBS) is used, parameters of the AOBS corresponding to the selected wavelength must also be set.
German Patent Application DE 199 44 355.6 discloses an optical arrangement in the beam path of a laser scanning microscope. A spectrally selective element is provided which couples excitation light of the light source, of at least one wavelength, into the microscope. The excitation light scattered and reflected out of the detected beam path at a specimen is blocked, and the detected light coming from the specimen is not. The spectrally selective element can be an acousto-optical tunable filter (AOTF), an acousto-optical modulator (AOM), or an acousto-optical beam splitter (AOBS).
German Patent Application DE 100 06 800.6, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,103 discloses an apparatus for selection and detection of at least one spectral region of a spectrally spread light beam (SP module). Selection means that are embodied as sliders are provided in the spread light beam in order thereby to direct portions of the spread light beam to different detectors. The signals of the detectors are then used for image generation. The quality of the image here depends in particular on the position of the slider. For an inexperienced user, it is time-consuming to find and set the best position.
Neither of the two documents cited discloses a training concept that trains a user in terms of setting the various parameters quickly and without being dependent on the microscope itself